Week 15 Reading Reflection

1) I actually read about micro-financing in my marketing class! The whole concept to me is shocking in a good way. It's a great process and it helps many many people in developing countries, especially women who aren't often given money. Microfinancing also has great repayment rates which is very reassuring to the whole process.

2) I was most confused by why the DDS (where the author worked before founding his company) wouldn't serve the extra village. And how was that company worse off than his own.

3) I would ask why did he learn from Starbucks and McDonalds and not other companies who have quality standards. I would also ask if he thinks that this is the best solution for helping the impoverished. I would also ask if he thinks this can be used in America to help the impoverished here.

4) He said the concept of microfinancing was created in 1976 however, google said similar practices of small credit loans have been a thing since the 1700s.

Final Reflection

1) I will most certainly always remember the assignment "Free Money" where we had to attempt to give money to people for free. It was quite the challenging assignment and I didn't expect to give all of the money out and I didn't. It was quite odd and the reactions were memorable for that I will never forget. The assignment I'm most proud of is the same "Free Money" assignment. I'm not always the best at talking to strangers so this assignment was quite difficult but I was still able to do it.

2) I don't really feel like an entrepreneur. But I feel like being an entrepreneur is like being a hero. No one ever says "I'm a hero" but they know when they are because other people will usually call them a hero, same for entrepreneur, it's not really a self-proclaimed title in my opinion.

3) I highly recommend you work ahead. It's very frustrating to have entrepreneur assignments on Sunday night due at 9pm so work ahead and get them done on Thursday or Friday, your future self will thank you. There's not really any way to get into the mindset, you just have to do. Start making good time management habits and eventually you will be very ahead in this class.

Venture Concept No. 2

1)

Venture Concept No. 1

Opportunity: All throughout the country hundreds of parties are happening on and around universities every single night. They cause noise, they cause damage, and worst of all, they cause the host to spend all day cleaning up after everyone left. Currently, there are thousands of college students who don’t have the time to clean their apartments and houses, and they don’t have the money to hire professional cleaning companies. At the same time there are thousands of students who need money and are willing to make money by cleaning. Currently, whenever a college student throws a party they have to spend the entire morning hungover and picking up the disgusting sticky red cups while stale beer lingers in the air, maybe if they’re lucky a friend or two will show up and help but that’s only because he forgot his keys and had to get them back. And it’s not only kids who throw parties that need their apartments and houses or dorms cleaned, there are plenty of pre-med students or engineers or Over the years the cost of professional cleaning services has gone up so now only people with real jobs can afford to use them regularly.

Innovation: Many people don’t consider that many businesses sell directly to other businesses and they don’t deal with the general consumer. Ebay, the popular e-commerce website, is known for its forward auction style bidding where consumers bid higher than the highest bid. Meaning the buyers compete for a good from the seller. However, in the business side of trade it’s more common for a reverse auction style, where the sellers compete with other sellers to get the business from the buyer. This means the sellers will usually lower prices to entice the buyer. I want to bring this auction style to the mainstream consumer world. Whenever someone uses the ridesharing app, Uber, the Uber Company takes about one dollar and some change from the exchange. My mobile application would be very similar. The app would automatically deduct a small amount of money from each exchange. However, this would be common knowledge and it would be a very small amount, however, if there are hundreds or luckily thousands of exchanges each day it will be a very substantial payout. Let’s combine this idea with the opportunity.  

Venture Concept: Now imagine a student somewhere just threw a party or they spent 16 hours nose deep in a textbook at the library, when they wake up or when they get home from the library the last thing they want to do is clean their apartment. So using their phone, they would take a picture of the room or a video of the room showing the mess and they would post it on an app, Cleanrs. Students in the geographic area who want to make money as “cleaners” would see your picture or video and they would be able to reverse auction bid on the ability to the room. This means the student gets a price that is much lower than those of professional cleaning services. However, we don’t want “cleaners” pricing incredibly low and doing a horrible job so the user would be able to compare not only the bid price but also the “cleaners” rating. This will allow for users to compare all the competitors at once for price and overall skill. The “cleaners” would also rate the users of course, because we want the “cleaners” and users to both have expectations going into a cleaning job. And of course cleaners would have to go to a background check in order to sign-up and their first job would be for an existing “cleaner” so that they can watch them in action. I believe students will adopt to this idea for several reasons. First, it will save them both time and money. They don’t have to hire a professional cleaning service that costs $70 for one job and they don’t have to spend their entire morning and afternoon cleaning up a mess that only brings back embarrassing memories. They say that time is money, when in reality time is priceless. Second, I believe that students will be trusting of this service because it will be students cleaning for other students. But I do think that the switch will be gradual for a bit until it catches on. To advertise I would create fliers and put them at the cashiers of convenience stores, wholesale retailers, and other stores where cleaning supplies are commonly purchased. I would also run a promotion where I would cover a certain amount of the cost for a certain amount of time, this will get people to try the app. Customer service will be very important in this endeavor because we need to be vigilant if anyone causes issues.

My most important resource will be students willing to take a chance and try out the service. If no one will be the first to use the service the app will never take off. No amount of money can get people to try it.

Next the app could be slightly modified so instead of users wanting their house or apartment cleaned they can take a picture or video of their car and get their car washed at home, or people could come clean the user’s dogs.

In 5 years I would want this venture to be a household name. People enjoy being their own boss and something like this would help. I also think that the more these apps exist, the more that will follow. I know currently there’s Uber for taxi-ing, there’s knack for tutoring, my idea for cleaning. I think if this idea did well I would try to stay in the mobile application business. I just don’t really know where to go from here. Yes, I have a good idea (or I think) but I have next-to-zero coding experience and have no money to pay for someone to attempt to code it.

2) On my last venture project people said I had a good idea, however, safety is a concern. Running background checks on the "cleaners" will be mandatory, similar to Uber makes drivers submit their driving forms and they run a background check as well. Of course, we can't make everyone (like the regular users) do background checks, but Uber doesn't have too many issues with strangers putting themselves in tight spaces together. To make it better for both parties the users will have to have to enter information and of course any issues that arise will be taken care of by the corporation. Someone said my idea is like craigslist, but I suppose I could also use craigslist in place of uber too? There are enormous differences with my idea and posting a craigslist ad about cleaning a room. First, my app will handle the monetary transaction, for craigslist there is much more trust required. Also, my app will run the necessary background checks and gather a lot more information than craigslist does. Also, people use craigslist when time is important. If you want someone coming over to clean your apartment/dorm/house in 20 minutes, you will use my app. Someone also suggested that I learn coding, which is thoughtful but I feel like this type of app will require years of coding experience in knowledge.

3) I haven't changed my venture concept.

4)

Elevator Pitch No. 4

1)

2-3) On the last video I received mostly good feedback. A few people said I appeared nervous and one suggested that I hold a script up behind the phone. However, in the event of a real elevator pitch I won't be able to hold a script behind the person's head, so I made do without it. I still rehearsed but not too many times as I don't want to seem robotic.

Week 14 Reading Reflection

1) I was very pleasantly surprised to hear that the United States changed their patent law has been changed. First to file is a lot easier for small businesses or inventors because they don't have to necessarily get the prototype out as soon as possible.

2) I'm still a little confused by the patent laws though and the differences between a patent and a trademark.

3) I would ask the author, when is the critical time to submit a patent? What is the worst time you have seen an entrepreneur cheated because of a trademark or patent?

4)I don't think the textbook author was wrong about anything.

Google Gold

1) To improve my SEO I would comment a link to my relevant blog on every comment I left during this semester.

2) I'm not sure what you mean by keywords. I assume you mean labels? If that is the case I just used the weekly labels we were told to and I did not refine them during the semester.

3) I didn't use social media to promote my blog. I like to keep my academia off of my social network sites and I will try to do the same with my careers when I am older and an adult.

4) My highest viewed blog post was Idea Napkin #2 with an enormous view count of 17 views. Perhaps people thought my idea was very solid so they shared it with a friend or two.

5) I don't have any keywords. But my blog comes up on the first page if I google my name.

Very Short Interview, Part 2

1) I think the first interview went well. I didn't have to prepare the questions so that made it quite easier, and I think now I am able to ask better questions on my own without being told what to ask.

2) Question: Did you consider yourself an entrepreneur when you were getting your first practice started?
Answer: No, I didn't. I was just trying to do as straightforward as a job as I possibly could. I was innovative but that was not my purpose, I was just being a doctor.

Question: What mistakes did you make when first starting?
Answer: If I could go back I would be more confident in my business decisions. I was a little too trepidatious at first.

Question: What are your plans for the future?
Answer: I hope to expand my practice enough that I can open a new location and hire another doctore to work full time.

3) I have come quite far in this class. Talking to entrepreneurs is a lot easier but talking to entrepreneurs wasn't my issue. Talking to strangers was the difficult part. I've done it many times now so this time was much easier. I realized that a lot of people enjoy spreading their advice so they don't mind being interviewed and asked questions. I was unable to sense if the entrepreneur I interviewed thought I had come far or not.

Week 13 Reading Reflection

1) I was surprised that about ecopreneurship. I never really thought about the idea of entrepreneurship in regards to conservation.

2) I am quite confused about what a social entrepreneur is. I don't see how it is any different. It includes government, private sector businesses so I'm not sure where the differences come from. Also confused about the licensing stuff.

3) Should entrepreneurs attempt to be social entrepreneurs if they can? Do social entrepreneurs do a lot to change the world?

4) According to google the European Union was founded in 1993, not 1992 like the book says.

Celebrating Failure

1) Last semester I was taking a science class that I thought was particularly difficult. The first test I did alright in, I got a 74. I was quite confident that I could do better on the next one, and I really wanted to do well in the class, and everyone else seemed to be doing really well. The second test came around and I had a test the night before. The timing couldn't have been much worse. I stayed up incredibly late for the next one studying much harder than I did for the first test. I got my grade back and I got a 65. When the teacher emailed us about the test grades she said 65 was the lowest.

2) So at this point, if I didn't do really well on the last test I wouldn't even pass the course. So I started studying early and I studied very efficiently for the final test. I ended up getting a 88 on the final which helped me pass the class. Not exactly the grade I wanted but I felt accomplished that I didn't give up after the second test.

3) Failure is hard. It can be incredibly hard to deal with depending on how much effort went into the action that failed. But to quote rapper Big Sean "No mistakes, only lessons" meaning when you make a mistake it's just learning a lesson the hard way. I don't think this class has changed me too much in regards to taking risks. I always felt that I take more risks than the average person. To quote Big Sean again "Look, what's life without risk? If you take none, that's probably what you gonna get." Which I think is very similar to what Thomas Edison so famously said. If you don't take any risks you can't succeed period.

Big Sean

My Exit Strategy

1) Since my venture is a mobile application I imagine I will sell it within the next 5 years. However, when exactly I sell it will depend on how much money I'm making from each transaction on the app.

2) I decided this exit strategy because I feel like mobile apps are very volatile and I think that every app can only last for so long. For example, some of the top apps from 5 years ago were Angry Birds, Doodle Jump, Around Me, Google Earth, Epicurious, Zipcar, Mixology, Shop Savvy, Mog, and many others that may sound vaguely familiar but you most likely don't even have on your phone. So when I get an amazing offer I will sell, maybe after 2 or 3 years though so I can make money from the app transactions, hopefully which are plentiful.

3) I do believe this exit strategy is reflected on other decisions. Of course the app has room to grow, but I can only grow so much. I think after a few years most improvements will be very small and that will cause a stagnation which will eventually lead to a decline.

Week 12 Reading Reflection

1) I'm surprised that small businesses have issues because they are too general. I would imagine that they try to be too niche.

2) I am quite confused about all of the different types of planning. Of course I can understand it better if I continue to study the differences.

3) I would ask when do businesses fail with their planning. I would also ask what is the most effective way to know when to plan certain ways.

4) I don't think the author is wrong on anything.

What's Next

Existing Market:

1) Next I think that the app should include people being able to post their car to be washed. I know in Florida this is a huge deal because of the springtime when pollen becomes a big issue. And people would love to have a car hand washed without even having to leave their driveway. Rules would have to be established because I know some apartments don't want cars to be worked on in the parking lots. Not to mention the cleaners will need easy access to running water.

2) Interviews: 

3) To continue growing in the existing market I would definitely incorporate vehicle cleaning. Even if it is for something like cars, scooters or even bikes. I also really like the suggestion of the users including what cleaning products they already have. To be honest though, I'm more concerned of actually getting it started, not just theoretically but in reality. I think the idea has promise and the next step would be creating the app and dolling out the updates slowly to get people hooked. I would probably start with target markets in populated cities and several college towns

New Market:

1) My app is targeted towards college students or younger adults living at home, I'm going to try to find some working adults who have houses and kids and see how this app could appeal to them.

2) Instead of using the party aspect towards the adults I'm going to pitch the busy aspect of using the app. Lots of adults are very busy with both adults working 40 hour weeks and if they have kids or pets on top of that they may not have the time to clean or they may want to devote less time towards cleaning, understandably.

3) 

4) I think the new market is quite attractive, especially because it is much larger than targeting college students. I also think it is quite likely that I can break into this market. I'm not surprised by what I heard. The new market (adults) want quality and they want safety, while the college students want more options and cheaper prices. 

      I think my biggest issue with these projects is I really don't know what to do next. I know how to keep adding onto the idea but I want to actually create the product but I have no idea where to start in that regard.